Dollar General moves on to next step in process
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The Sugar Creek Town Board voted 3-0 in favor of approving a rezone request from the Jean A. Brummel Trust to change the zoning of a section of property along County Highway A from A-2 to B-2 at its meeting Monday night.
The rezone is intended to eventually allow for the construction of a Dollar General retail store on the property, which is in the area of Tibbets Elementary School and the Mobil Gas Station across the road on County Highway A in the Town of Sugar Creek.
Residents of the township have hotly contested the rezone and as a result, the issue was tabled by the Town Board in September and sent back to the Plan Commission in an effort to allow residents to voice their opinions. The Plan Commission voted in favor of recommending the rezone at its meeting earlier this month, which then moved the rezone request back to the Town Board.
When the item came up on the agenda Monday, Town Board Chairman Dale Wuttke began by reading the minutes from the previous Town Board meeting pertinent to the topic.
Wuttke specifically noted the Plan Commission had approved the rezone as it’s compliant with the current comprehensive plan. He also acknowledged some of the many concerns brought up by residents at previous meetings, including traffic, the potential for burglaries and crime, and whether or not a Dollar General store was the best fit for that location.
“Most of the concerns that I have heard are still the same concerns that we’ve had from the previous two meetings,” Wuttke said, noting that Monday’s discussion on the topic would be solely among members of the Town Board and not open to comments from the public.
Town Supervisor Dave Robers made a motion to approve the rezone request on the grounds that Dollar General has met all the conditions put forth so far and that it meets the comprehensive plan.
“By not approving it, we might be making ourselves liable with people wanting to purchase this,” Robers explained. “If they’ve met all the requirements to build this store – with the county and the state, whatever they need to have – if we turn it down, we’re actually denying them their right to their life’s goal and we’re putting ourselves liable legally.”
The motion to approve the rezone was passed 3-0 by the board.
During the public comment portion of the meeting later Monday night, residents again raised their concerns and asked questions. However, due to legal reasons, the Town Board could not enter a discussion on the topic with residents at that time.
Though the rezone has now been approved by the Town Board that does not mean that a Dollar General will be popping up on the site anytime soon, as there are still many steps remaining in the process.
First, the rezone would have to be approved by the Walworth County Zoning Agency, and if approved there, it would continue onto the Walworth County Board of Supervisors for further review and a final decision.
If the rezone is approved at both levels in county, Dollar General would then be required to seek approval for all the appropriate construction and planning permits.
